2010 Top Ten List Spotlight: Quilty 3000

When it comes to albums released in 2010, you’d be hard-pressed to find anyone who’s pored over them more intensely than a KEXP DJ. So, what were their favorites? Which CDs did they reach for the most, or, uh, “click on” the most in their iTunes players? Find out as KEXP looks at each DJ’s list through the month of December, leading up to our 2010 Top 90.3 Countdown, as voted on by YOU, the KEXP listener! Voting ends on Monday, December 20th, so let us know your favorites now.

Our Music Director’s review: “The rapper/producer’s 5th album is a hip hop tour-de-force that explores the dark sides of fame and romance, laying bare his many personal weaknesses, from his giant ego to his raging insecurity, things that continue to sabotage his own relationships and career. Blending live instrumentation with a wide variety of samples ranging from King Crimson and Black Sabbath to Bon Iver and Aphex Twin, the sound is huge, urgent and yes, dark and twisted, with prominent fuzzed-out guitar tones and some monstrous drum patterns. There are occasional echoes of his soul-drenched debut The College Dropout, the symphonic Late Registration, the electro-house and techno of Graduation and the robotic emo-R&B of 808s and Heartbreak. It’s all here and much, much more, including the finest rapping (and singing) of his career, not to mention his funniest lines since The College Dropout, along with his darkest lyrics ever. The album is complex, sonically adventurous and ruthlessly honest, and easily the best he’s made since the classic Late Registration. 11/16/2010 -Don Yates”